Bananas — season, tips, and recipes in New Zealand
Bananas is a fruit available in New Zealand during January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December. This page is a practical guide for home cooks: when to buy bananas, how to pick a good one, how to store it, what it goes well with, three original recipes, and detailed nutrition information.
Not grown commercially in NZ. All bananas are imported, mainly from Ecuador and the Philippines. Available year-round but not seasonal or local.
How to pick a good one
Yellow with some brown speckling means sweet and ripe. Green tips mean a day or two from ready. Avoid grey-skinned ones.
How to store it
Room temperature. Separate from the bunch to slow ripening. Fridge turns the skin black but the fruit inside is fine.
Goes well with
dark chocolate: Chocolate's bitterness and banana's sweetness cancel each other perfectly. The fat in chocolate also carries the banana's aroma compounds, making both taste more intense.
peanut butter: Salt amplifies sweetness. The contrast between peanut butter's savouriness and banana's sugar is partly why the combination is so satisfying. The fat also slows digestion, which is why it's such a good pre-exercise combination.
cardamom: Cardamom has floral, citrus, and slightly medicinal notes that sit well against banana's cloying side. Used in South Asian cooking with banana for centuries. Try it in banana bread.
coconut: Both come from tropical climates with high humidity. They share certain esters -- the chemical compounds responsible for fruity aromas -- which is why they taste like a natural pair.
Recipes
Two-Ingredient Banana Pancakes
Just bananas and eggs. Seriously.
Ingredients: 2 ripe bananas, 2 eggs, pinch cinnamon, butter for frying
Method: Mash bananas. Beat in eggs and cinnamon. Fry spoonfuls in butter, 2 minutes each side. Top with whatever you like.
Frozen Chocolate Banana Bites
Better than ice cream.
Ingredients: 2 bananas, 100g dark chocolate, 1 tbsp coconut oil
Method: Slice bananas into rounds. Freeze on a tray for 1 hour. Melt chocolate with coconut oil. Dip each round halfway. Back on the tray, freeze until set.
Banana & Peanut Butter Smoothie
Breakfast in 2 minutes.
Ingredients: 1 frozen banana, 1 tbsp peanut butter, 200ml milk, 1 tbsp oats, drizzle honey
Method: Blend everything until smooth. Pour. Done.
Nutrition
One banana delivers 12% of your daily potassium (more than most foods), 25% of your vitamin B6, and 3g of fibre. About 105 calories. The potassium helps regulate blood pressure. Riper bananas have more sugar but are also easier to digest. One of the best pre-exercise foods.